1. Field
The disclosure relates generally to an improved data processing system and more specifically to image management in an improved data processing system. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a method, computer program product, and apparatus for managing an image. Even more specifically, the disclosure relates to policy-based image management in an improved data processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Images or photos stored in computer systems commonly contain one or more objects. For example, an image may contain a person, more than one person, a trademark, a vehicle, or another suitable object. Frequently, images containing one or more objects are stored such that the images may be viewed by one or more users of the computer system.
For example, the images may be stored on a web server and/or a social network. In such illustrative examples, the images may be viewed by the user that stored the images and/or other users. In an illustrative example in which the images are stored in a social network, users which have been granted permission by the user that stored the image in the social network may view the images and the objects that are present in the images. For example, user John Doe may upload a photograph of a car. User Jane Doe is friends with John Doe in the social network. Thus, Jane Doe may view the photograph of the car.
Users frequently capture and store images of people other than themselves. For example, a user may capture an image of the friends of the user, a celebrity encountered by the user, the family of the user, or an unknown person using a camera. The user may then store the captured images on a web server or in a social network. Other users may then receive and view the captured images using a computer network, such as the Internet.
In some examples, users store images containing copyrighted materials or trademarks. Copyrighted materials are works that have a set of exclusive rights associated with the work that are granted to the author or creator of the work. The exclusive rights may include the right to copy, distribute, and adapt the work. For example, the text of a novel may be a copyrighted material. The images may also be a copyrighted material when the images are generated by the user. For example, the images may be generated by using a digital camera. A trademark is a logo, a graphic, a collection of text, or another suitable item that represents an entity, a product sold by the entity, or a service offered by the entity. For example, Tivoli® is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. in Armonk, N.Y., that represents the name of integrated service management software offered by International Business Machines Corp. The user storing the images may or may not have the permission of the copyright owner or trademark owner to store the images.
The users that receive the images may show the images to additional people, download the images, store the images such that undesired users may access the images, and/or modify the images in an undesired way. For example, a user may generate a copy of an image of a user from a social network that only particular users may access and store the copy of the image in the social network such that undesired users may access the copy of the image containing the friends of the user, celebrity encountered by the user, or the unknown person.